Allagash Fluxus 2009

Brewed by Allagash Brewing Company
Style: Saison
Portland, Maine USA

Bottle. Rocky white head, hazy gold body. Aroma of barnyard, spice, pepper, grassy. Taste is fruity, starchy, pepper, fruits. Odd. Slight twang and alcohol. A bit bitter. Medium bubbles.

Pours a hazy goldenrod color with a creamy beige head that leaves some nice spotty lacing. Aroma is tart lemon creme with a big pepperiness. Flavor is light candied citrus, sort of like how lemonheads candy tastes after the sourness is gone. The sweet potato is very mild but I get a little bit of it up front. The pepper comes in strong in the finish. Very dry and the flavors are all very well-integrated. Mouthfeel is divine with a clean finish and a slight warmth.

From the Bottle at the Denver Rare Beer Tasting, Wynkoop Brewery 25/09/2009 Big banana fruity and yeast aroma. Large white head. Golden coloured strong in alcohol and a little hazy in appearance. Crisp and dry malt finish.

Draft at Duckworth’s in Moville, as I admired their expanded tap selection. Awesome awesome saison. Spicy and smooth, totally delicious. YEAH

Gold pour. Nice funky aroma. Spicy and fruity with some light lemon and earthy aromas. Flavor is very spicy and somewhat fruity with a good dose of barnyard/earthy flavors. Good.

Bottle from Champanes, ‘Batch# 2’ listed on label, thought I would give this one a try hoping the Black Pepper in this beer would not be the same experience I had with the Dieu du Ciel’s Route des Epices (I found the Route des Spices to have way too much Pepper), 2009 Fluxus has a hazy orange gold pour with white and some light tan colored bubbles, medium effervescence, there are a lot of fine particles and specks in the ale to, left some lacing on the glass, aromas of flowers and spices, orange citrus, light malt, faint black pepper, faint earth funk fragrance? (from hops?) faint sweetness on the nose seems to be a little different than the typical sweetness, the nose does become bigger as the ale warms, Pepper is more pronounced but is always in the background, not over bearing at all which I think is good, no alcohol aroma, flavors of orange and lemon citrus fruit, and light malt, I tasted field flowers and faint spice trailing after the finish, with some pepper and tartness at the finish, the sweetness in this drink is similar to the other Saison type ales but there is a difference in the flavor, I cannot point out what the taste is other than that the sweetness appears to be heavier and it is not a brown sugar or molasses type sweetness, Black Pepper seems to help add a bit of bite to the bitterness, no alcohol taste but some warmth is felt in the mouth, mouth feel is medium and creamy feeling, alcohol is hidden well in this ale, I was thinking that the Sweet Potato would have more influence on the nose and flavor, not bad but not really exciting, this is a nice Saison.

Bottle from Jungle Jim’s. Poured a clear golden color with a large frothy white head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate spice, raw potato and yeast aroma. Medium body with a oily texture and soft carbonation. Medium to heavy raw veggy flavor with a medium to heavy sweet & pepper finish of moderate to moderate duration. I would recommend this to a friend to try once.

Pours yellowish, thin head. Nose has notes of cardamon, cinnamon, and yeast phenols. Flavors are very spicey and yeast...cardomon, cinnamon, and squash-like flavors. Drinkable but overly spiced